33 SKETCHBOOK

A series that explores the photographer’s personal anxieties in his thirty-third year of age, through the observation of human/nature interactions, blurring the line between dreamlike vision and objective representation.

Through a non-linear, atmospheric and somewhat melancholic sequence, photographer László Gábor Belicza shares his reflection about his role as image-maker, in relation to sustainability and climate change. In his own words: “We often think about nature in extremes: either we approach it with complete humility or with total domination. The removal of living beings from their natural environment, along with the massive scale of human intervention, can be just as pernicious as the instinctive and selfish destruction that is often overlooked.”

What follows is an extract from a text by Péter Baki, Photo Historian, Photo Aesthetician, Director of the House of Hungarian Photographers – Mai Manó House and the Hungarian Museum of Photography.

“At first glance, the theme of Gábor Belicza László’s most recent series of photographs appears to be about the relationship between nature and humanity. However, in terms of its creation and the manner in which it was made, the series is most closely a visual imprint of the dilemmas present in the artist’s own life. At the same time, his images reflect the tension inherent in humanity’s relationship with nature, pondering in what distorted ways humans treat the natural world.

While the series reflects our relationship with nature, it is not merely one of the many sequences of images depicting climate change or its consequences. For the artist, it is a pretext for expressing his inner anxiety.”